New data published by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) reveals that the overall 2023 air pollution levels in Jakarta were arguably the worst since 2019. Despite improvements between 2020 and 2022, the rise of pollution in 2023 is a notable setback. Over 29 million people …
Some of the world’s biggest buyers have stopped trading with Korindo after the emergence of footage claiming to show illegal burning in Papua province A Korean palm oil company has been dropped by buyers after footage emerged that allegedly shows the illegal burning of vast tracts of tropical forest on …
RIO DE JANEIRO (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Countries will be unable to meet their climate change pledges unless they secure land rights for people living in the world's tropical forests, indigenous leaders told an international conference of regional governors meeting in Mexico. Regional government officials from Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, …
The effects of climate change, which we are already witnessing, are the consequence of rising concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs). At the moment, absolute emissions are still rising, caused by our overwhelmingly fossil fuel-based energy system (our “brown infrastructure”). From 1990 to 2013, G20 energy-related CO2 emissions – the most …
One of Indonesia’s few remaining expanses of pristine rainforest is at imminent risk of destruction by Korean-Indonesian conglomerate Korindo, a new report by an international group of environmental campaigners has found. Titled ‘Burning Paradise‘, the report released on Thursday said that Korindo — a Korean-controlled, Jakarta-headquartered company — is burning …
Indonesia's Disaster Agency said it is confident the country's forest fires and haze of toxic smoke they send over Southeast Asia are unlikely to reach levels seen in 2015 because of favorable weather conditions and a quicker emergency response. Last year's fires were among of the worst on record, straining …
In December 2015, plantation company PT Bumi Mekar Hijau was acquitted in a civil suit the government had filed against it for letting fires ravage its land in 2014. Now, an appeals court has reversed that decision, ordering the company to pay $6 million in compensation. Environmentalists wished the company …
Singapore’s National Environment Agency said on Friday it expected air quality to remain poor into the weekend as Indonesian disaster management officials cautioned that wildfires in Sumatra and Kalimantan could persist through September. On Thursday Indonesia’s newly appointed police chief Tito Karnavian said police had prepared cases against 454 individuals …
Singapore’s air quality reached “unhealthy” levels as haze from Indonesian forest fires intensified Friday, blanketing the city-state’s downtown with a layer of smoke. The three-hourly air pollution index in Singapore rose to 128 at 11 a.m. local time, increasing every hour since 3 a.m., according to the National Environment Agency. …
Recent findings of paradoxically high endemicity of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) among populations living in the Group of 20 (G20) countries could portend high rates of these diseases among patients with underlying non-communicable diseases (NCDs), with resultant co-morbidities. Original Source
Solar electricity in Indonesia could grow markedly in the next few years, through the use of FiTs. Indomesia-Bali-shutterstock_347774750-600x400As reported by SolarServer, the Ministry of Energy & Mineral Resources (ESDM) has issued a Government Decree to provide support mechanisms for utility-scale solar photovoltaic systems, exhibition and management services. The driving support …
Ataúro Island, located around 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) north of Dili, Timor-Leste’s capital, has an average of 253 reef fish species per reef site, higher than that of Raja Ampat in Indonesia’s West Papua province that previously held the record. Conservation International’s (CI’s) Rapid Assessment Program (RAP) conducted a week-long …
Amidst police closing cases against 15 firms recently, fire alerts have been detected on land managed by Asia Pulp & Paper and Asia Pacific Resources International Limited, Indonesia’s first and second-biggest timber firms, respectively. The Indonesian parliament will form a task force to look into the cancelling of investigations against …
Most oil palm is grown in areas that were once species-rich and carbon-rich tropical forests, thanks to the fact that the crop’s natural range is limited to the humid tropics. So where are the active fronts of deforestation for oil palm? And where might they be in the future? Here’s …
Indonesian plantation company Sampoerna Agro is considering how to respond to a recent court ruling that handed down the country's largest ever fine to a company linked to forest fires, a company official said on Monday. "We're still studying this," Sampoerna Agro spokesman Michael Kesuma told Reuters when asked whether …
In West Aceh, a school has had to close, with two students hospitalized with breathing problems. One hundred and fifty military and police officers are trying to put the fires in West Aceh. The fires are a result of slash-and-burn land clearing by oil palm planters, officials say. Since August …
A summary of the history and current state of biofuels policy in Indonesia, highlighting the tension between the country’s renewable energy policy and the ambition in reducing its carbon emissions. Increasing domestic use of palm oil biodiesel is a pressing strategic issue for Indonesia. As the world’s 15th-largest motor vehicle …
More than 13,000 Indonesian seaweed farmers are launching a $200m class action against the company they claim was responsible for Australia’s worst offshore oil spill, which sent millions of litres of oil towards their shores. The action to be filed in the federal court in Sydney on Wednesday follows a …
As palm oil production expands from Southeast Asia into tropical regions of the Americas and Africa, vulnerable forests and species on four continents face increased risk of loss, a new Duke University-led study finds. The largest areas of vulnerable forest are in Africa and South America, where more than 30 …
Zamrud National Park encompasses an area inhabited by a variety of birds, fish and mammals in Riau on the island of Sumatra. More than 40% of Riau’s forests have been cleared for industrial concessions since 2001, according to the World Resources Institute. A wildlife reserve and surrounding areas on Indonesia’s …
Palm oil is the most widely traded vegetable oil globally, with demand projected to increase substantially in the future. Almost all oil palm grows in areas that were once tropical moist forests, some of them quite recently. The conversion to date, and future expansion, threatens biodiversity and increases greenhouse gas …
